DIED. Sergio Vieira de Mello, 55, fearless and elegant U.N. representative in Iraq, who promoted peace and nation building in such war-torn countries as East Timor, Kosovo and Cambodia; in the suicide bombing that struck U.N. headquarters, killing 23 and injuring 100; in Baghdad. After a 34-year diplomatic career, the Brazilian diplomat was seen as a possible candidate for the U.N.’s top job. “I can think of no one we could less afford to spare,” eulogized U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan. De Mello survived the initial blast and was heard calling from the building’s debris, but died before rescuers were able to reach him.
UNVEILED. Enola Gay, the B-29 bomber that dropped the first atomic bomb, dubbed “Little Boy,” on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, killing up to 230,000 people; at a Smithsonian Institution hangar near Dulles Airport in Virginia. Japanese victims groups have protested the plan to put the plane on public display in December.
LATEST COVER STORY
Is the U.S. Stretched too Thin?
September 1, 2003 Issue
Past Covers Asian Journey August 18-25, 2003 —————– Cool Japan August 11, 2003 —————– Gloria Arroyo August 4, 2003 —————– Women in China July 28, 2003 —————– Asian Longevity July 21, 2003 —————– Hong Kong July 14, 2003 —————– Southeast Asia July 7, 2003 —————– Kim Jong Il June 30, 2003 —————–
Terror: Hambali’s heir apparent
Sports: Japan’s no-hit wonders
Afghanistan: The Taliban returns
Thailand: Saving Koh Samui from itself
CNN.com: Top Headlines
RESIGNED. Lucien Abenhaim, 52, French Surgeon-General, after an estimated 10,000 French died in the recent European heat wave, in Paris. Health Minister Jean-Franois Mattei said Abenham failed “to provide us with the information and warning signal that we should have had.”
NAMED. Lee Hsien Loong, 51, eldest son of Singapore’s founding leader Lee Kuan Yew, to succeed Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong; in Singapore. Goh announced his successor, calling Lee “young and vigorous and in tune with the times.” Goh said he would like his successor to have at least two years’ experience as Prime Minister before facing a general election in 2007.
PAROLED. Kathy Boudin, 60, former member of the radical Weather Underground group, after serving 22 years in prison; in New York. In 1981 members of the Black Liberation Army, working with the Weather Underground, murdered a Brinks security guard while robbing an armored car, then transferred $1.6 million to a truck driven by Boudin. Two police officers were killed in the getaway.
ARRESTED. Ma Shiwen, deputy director of the Henan Center for Disease Control, for reportedly providing a non-governmental Chinese aids organization with data detailing the infection of tens of thousands of Chinese villagers with hiv during blood transfusions; in Henan province. An aids activist reported the arrest; the government has refused to comment on the case and Shiwen’s colleagues say “he has just disappeared.”
SENTENCED. Muhammad el-Omari, Yassine Lahnach, Rachid Jalil, Hassan Tawsi, to death for their roles in five suicide bomb attacks that killed 45 people, including 12 bombers, in May; in Casablanca. The four are members of outlawed terrorist group Salafia Jihadia, which targets U.S. interests and Jews in Morocco. Four Spaniards and three French nationals died in the attacks.
SENTENCED. Pauline Hanson, 49, co-founder of Australia’s anti-immigration One Nation party, to three years in prison for electoral fraud; in Brisbane. In 1997, Hanson and One Nation co-founder David Ettridge falsely claimed to have the 500 members necessary to register their party, then accepted $330,000 in government electoral funding. Hanson’s party is already in disarray and her political career in steep decline; several political rivals, including Prime Minister John Howard, have said the sentence is harsh.
Numbers
303,621 Number of dominoes toppled by Ma Li Hua of Beijing, breaking the previous world record by over 20,000 dominoes. Ma spent 45 days setting the dominoes up; they fell in 4.5 minutes
20,000 Number of dominoes accidentally knocked over by cockroaches during Ma’s preparations
$59 million Amount demanded by North Korea to reunite seven children with five Japanese parents who were abducted in the 1970s and returned to Japan last year
18 Number of journalists and their assistants who have been killed in Iraq since March 20; four have died since the end of the war on May 1
$5.5 million Ransom Libya reportedly paid to secure the release of 14 Europeans held hostage in the Sahara desert
$281,500 Price paid at auction by China’s Sichuan Airlines for the lucky phone number 8888-8888. Eight is a homonym in Chinese for rich
Omen
The number of sufferers from Alzheimer’s Disease could triple by 2050, U.S. and U.K. researchers warn, as the world’s population grows and improved health care helps existing patients to live longer
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